Ford CFO is optimistic on EV business despite its big loss in 2022

Shares of Ford Motor Co (NYSE: F) ended slightly in the red today after the legacy automaker said its electric vehicles business lost $2.1 billion in 2022.   

Ford’s EV unit to remain in loss this year

On Thursday, the car company also guided for another $3.0 billion of adjusted operating loss for that segment in the current year. Still, CFO John Lawler said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”:

We’re losing money now, but we’re a startup, we’re scaling, we’re developing products. We have an incredible team working on our second and third generation of EV vehicles. These folks have built profitable EVs.

He reiterated the company’s commitment to an adjusted EBIT margin of 8.0% for Model e by 2026 as well. By then, Ford Motor expects to be producing 2 million electric vehicles per year.

Year-to-date, Ford shares are now trading roughly at the same price at which they started the year.

CFO Lawler’s remarks on poor Q4 performance

Last month, the automobile manufacturer cited execution issues as it reported a rather disappointing fourth quarter. But the finance chief says the company is devoted to moving past that.

We do have issued in our industrial platform. We’re working through those. We’re focused on quality, on our costs, we’re driving that out. It’s the number one priority for our leadership team.

Ford reported a whopping $10 billion of full year operating profit for its internal combustion and fleet businesses combined – a figure it expects will jump to $13 billion this year.

Wall Street currently has a consensus “hold” rating on Ford shares. Just weeks ago, Ford said it was working with a Chinese supplier on a battery factory in Michigan as Invezz reported HERE.